December 24 (Micah 4–7; Psalm 144; Revelation 4–6)

Summary

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Through the ESV Bible in a Year with Jackie Hill Perry

Episode: December 24 (Micah 4–7; Psalm 144; Revelation 4–6)

Date: December 24, 2025
Host: Crossway
Episode Focus: This episode features daily readings from the Old Testament (Micah 4–7), the Psalms (Psalm 144), and the New Testament (Revelation 4–6) as part of a yearlong journey through the ESV Bible. The readings explore themes of messianic prophecy, God’s justice and compassion, praise and reliance on God, and the apocalyptic imagery found in Revelation.

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Episode Overview

This episode offers scriptural readings that traverse major biblical themes:

• The restoration and reign of God’s people through messianic promise in Micah
• A psalm of praise, dependence, and blessing in Psalm 144
• An awe-inspiring vision of heaven and unfolding judgment in Revelation

Each portion connects God’s faithfulness to His people across both judgment and mercy, culminating in a portrayal of divine sovereignty and redemption.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Micah 4–7: Restoration, Messianic Hope, and Divine Requirements

Timestamps: 00:01–09:14

• The Glorious Future for Zion

  • The mountain of God is exalted, nations stream to it seeking His teaching:

    “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord... that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” (00:07)

  • Prophecy of peace:

    “They shall beat their swords into plowshares…” (00:27)

  • No more war, global peace, and individual security:

    “They shall sit, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid…” (00:35)

• Messianic Prophecy

  • The promised ruler from Bethlehem:

    “But you, O Bethlehem… from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (02:21)

• God’s Charges Against Israel and Call for Justice

  • God laments Israel’s ingratitude:

    “O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me.” (03:58)

  • Clarifying true worship:

    “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (04:40)

  • Exposure of social decay:

    “The prince and the judge ask for a bribe… the best of them is like a briar, the most upright of them a thorn hedge.” (07:03)

• Individual Lament and Hope in God

  • Even amidst collective corruption, personal faith remains:

    “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” (07:51)

  • Assurance of God’s compassion:

    “He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (08:56)

2. Psalm 144: Praise for God’s Deliverance and Blessing

Timestamps: 09:14–10:38

• Acknowledgment of God’s Role as Protector and Provider
  • “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.” (09:14)
  • Celebration of God’s active help and steadfastness:

    “He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge…” (09:17)

• Human Frailty and God’s Sovereignty
  • “O Lord, what is man, that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?” (09:25)
• Prayer for Blessing and Prosperity
  • “May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars… May there be no cry of distress in our streets. Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall.” (10:07–10:24)

3. Revelation 4–6: The Throne Room Vision & The Seven Seals

Timestamps: 10:38–End

• Vision of God’s Throne

  • Stunning imagery of the heavenly throne:

    “A throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne… and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.” (10:41)

  • The incessant worship of God:

    “Day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (11:39)

  • Elders recognize God’s ultimate authority and worthiness:

    “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things…” (12:18)

• The Scroll and the Lamb

  • The search for one worthy to open the scroll:

    “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?... I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy...” (12:36)

  • The Lamb is found worthy:

    “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered…” (12:51)
    “Worthy are you [the Lamb] to take the scroll… for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God…” (13:29)

  • Universal adoration:

    “‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ …to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (14:04–14:24)

• Opening the Seven Seals: The Four Horsemen and Judgments

  • The first four seals unleash the iconic Four Horsemen: conquest, war, famine, and death (15:02–16:01)
  • The cry of the martyrs for justice:

    “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood…?” (16:24)

  • The sixth seal: cosmic chaos, terror on earth

    “The sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood… the kings of the earth… called to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb…’” (17:01–17:41)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Micah's concise gospel summary:

  “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” — Reader 1 (04:40)

• Micah on God’s forgiveness:

  “He will have compassion on us… You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” — Reader 1 (08:56)

• Psalmist’s awe at God’s attention:

  “O Lord, what is man, that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?” — Reader 1 (09:25)

• The worship of heaven:

  “‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” — Reader 2, quoting the living creatures (11:39) “‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things…’” — Reader 2, quoting the elders (12:18)

• Anguish and hope of the martyrs:

  “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood…” — Reader 2 (16:24)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Micah 4–7 – Restoration, prophecy, divine indictment, and forgiveness (00:01–09:14)
• Psalm 144 – Prayer and praise for deliverance and blessing (09:14–10:38)
• Revelation 4–6 – Throne room vision, cosmic worship, unveiling of the scroll, Four Horsemen, and heavenly judgment (10:38–End)

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Closing Thoughts

This episode emphasizes God’s ultimate authority, the promise of Messiah, the call to a humble and just life, and wraps with apocalyptic revelations that point to both God’s justice and redemption. Through visionary scripture readings, listeners are invited into both reverence and hope, seeing God’s faithfulness across the unfolding story of Scripture.

Transcript

[Reader 1]

A reading from the Book of Micah. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains. And it shall be lifted up above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it. And many nations shall come and say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and and the word of the Lord. From Jerusalem he shall judge between many peoples and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. For the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all the peoples walk, each in the name of its God. But we will walk in the name of the Lord, our God, forever and ever. In that day, declares the Lord, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away, and those whom I have afflicted and the lame. I will make the remnant and those who are cast off a strong nation. And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore. And you, O tower of the flock hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come. The former dominion shall come. King kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. Now why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in you? Has your counselor perished? That pain seized you like a woman in labor? Writhe and groan, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you shall go out from the city and dwell in the open country. You shall go to Babylon. There you shall be rescued. There the Lord will redeem you from the hand of your enemies. Now many nations are assembled against you since saying, let her be defiled, and let our eyes gaze upon Zion. But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord. They do not understand his plan, that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion. For I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze. You shall beat in pieces many peoples and shall devote their gain to the Lord, their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth. Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops. Siege is laid against us. With a rod they strike the Judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem, Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth. Then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel, and he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men. They shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword and the land of Nimrod at its entrances, and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian. And when he comes into our land and treads within our border, then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which delay not for a man nor wait for the children of man. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among the flocks of sheep, which when it goes through, treads down and tears in pieces and there is none to deliver. Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries, and all your enemies shall be cut off. And in that day, declares the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots. And I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds. And I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes. And I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you. And you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands. And I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities. And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey. Hear what the Lord. Arise. Plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. Hear you, mountains, the indictment of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth. For the Lord has an indictment against his people, and he will contend with Israel. O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O My people, remember what Balak, king of Moab, devised and what Balaam the son of Beor, answered him. And what happened from Shittim to Gilgal that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord. With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good? And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? The voice of the Lord cries to the city, and it is sound wisdom to fear your name. Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it. Can I forget any longer? The treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked and the scant measure that is accursed? Shall I equip the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence, your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue.

[Reader 2]

Is deceitful in their mouth.

[Reader 1]

Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins. You shall eat, but not be satisfied. And there shall be hunger within you. You shall put away, but not preserve. And what you preserve I will give to the sword. You shall sow, but not reap. You shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil. You shall tread grapes, but not drink wine, for you have kept the statutes of Omri and all the works of the house of Ahab, and you have walked in their counsels that I may make you a desolation and your inhabitants a hissing, so you shall bear the scorn of my people. Woe is me, for I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned. There is no cluster to eat, no first ripe fig that my soul desires. The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind. They all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well. The prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul. Thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a briar, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchman of your punishment has come. Now their confusion is at hand. Put no trust in A neighbor have no confidence in a friend. Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms. For the son treats the father with contempt. The daughter rises up against her mother. The daughter in law against her mother in law. A man enemies are the men of his own house. But as for me, I will look to the Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy. When I fall, I shall rise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him. Until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me, he will bring me out to the light. I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her. Who said to me, where is the Lord your God? My eyes will look upon her now. She will be trampled down like the mire of the streets. A day for the building of your walls. In that day the boundary shall be far extended. In that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, and from Egypt to the river, from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain. But the earth will be desolate because of its inhabitants for the fruit of their deeds. Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance who dwell alone in a forest, in the midst of a garden land. Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt. I will show them marvelous things the nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. They shall lay their hands on their mouths. Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent. Like the crawling things of the earth, they shall come trembling out of their strongholds. They shall turn in dread to the Lord our God. And they shall be in fear of you, who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance. He does not retain his anger forever. Because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old. A reading from the Book of Psalms of David. Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. He is my steadfast love and my.

[Reader 2]

Fortress my stronghold and my deliverer, my.

[Reader 1]

Shield, and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. O Lord, what is man, that you regard him, or the son of man.

[Reader 2]

That you think of him?

[Reader 1]

Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow. Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down.

[Reader 2]

Touch the mountains so that they smoke.

[Reader 1]

Flash forth the lightning and scatter them.

[Reader 2]

Send out your arrows and rout them.

[Reader 1]

Stretch out your hand from on high. Rescue me and deliver me from the.

[Reader 2]

Many waters, from the hand of foreigners.

[Reader 1]

Whose mouths speak lies and whose right.

[Reader 2]

Hand is a right hand of falsehood. I will sing a new song to.

[Reader 1]

You, O God, upon a ten stringed harp I will play to you who gives victory to kings, who rescues David, his servant, from the cruel sword. Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood. May our sons in their youth be.

[Reader 2]

Like plants full grown, our daughters like.

[Reader 1]

Corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace. May our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce. May our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields. May our cattle be heavy with young.

[Reader 2]

Suffering no mishap or failure in bearing.

[Reader 1]

May there be no cry of distress in our streets. Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. A reading from the Book of Revelation.

[Reader 2]

After this I looked, and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. At once I was in the spirit. And behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of Jasper and carnelian. And around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were 24 thrones. And seated on the thrones were 24 elders clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder. And before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox. The third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within and day and night, they never cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who who is seated on the throne who lives forever and ever. The 24 elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne the. A scroll written within and on the back sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.

[Reader 1]

And.

[Reader 2]

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood. You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have made them a kingdom and priests and to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. And I heard every creature in heaven and. And on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, saying to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, amen. And the elders fell down and worshiped. Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, come. And I looked, and behold a white horse. And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him. And he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, come. And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another. And he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, the I heard the third living creature say, come. And I looked, and behold a black horse. And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius. And do not harm the oil and wine. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, come. And I looked, and behold a pale horse. And its rider's name was Death. And Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, o sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth. The full moon became like blood. And the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit. When shaken by a gale, the sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up. And every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who was seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?